Sudden death of ZIP 100 internal

[Ben Fullerton]

I have been using a (factory hybrid??) EIDE Zip 100 (that requires some
SCSI drivers!??) without any *hardware problems since I bought it new over
ten years ago.

Today, I tried to copy some files from one of the disks using ZTree Win.

The directory listed properly, as usual, and I started the 'all tagged
file' copy ....... and watched while the ZTW activity indicator showed
that the program was active - for much too long a time, so I was forced to
do a W98SE reset to get out of ZTW and a reboot to get things back
to looking normal on the screen.
During the reboot, the BIOS recognized the zip drive as usual.

Neither ZTW nor W98SE Explorer recognize the zip drive now!

When I insert a Zip disk, the activity light blinks exactly as always but
W98 displays the error message "E is not accessible / Retry? - Cancel?"

I also tried again with a blank Zip 100 disk, with the same result.

To me, it looks like the data disk MAY still be undamaged but the drive
hardware may be non-functional.

I have read, here, suggestions for inverting the drive or standing it on
edge, but have not tried that yet.

Questions: Is anyone still with me after all the long list of details?

Good. Thank you. :-)

What are the chances that trying the drive inversion or edge stand will do
(more?) damage to the data on the disk that I was trying to back up?

Would it be a better idea to try to rent or borrow an external EIDE ZIP
100 and use it to copy the data? Are the drives, at the age of most of
them these days, usually capable of reading disks from another drive?

I have no regrets on the thought of junking the drive but the data is
important to me - and some of the other disks were not backed up at all.

All constructive suggestions welcome.

Ben Fullerton

benf () chebucto . ca

[Ghostrider]

Post by Ben Fullerton
I have been using a (factory hybrid??) EIDE Zip 100 (that requires some
SCSI drivers!??) without any *hardware problems since I bought it new over
ten years ago.
Today, I tried to copy some files from one of the disks using ZTree Win.
The directory listed properly, as usual, and I started the 'all tagged
file' copy ....... and watched while the ZTW activity indicator showed
that the program was active - for much too long a time, so I was forced to
do a W98SE reset to get out of ZTW and a reboot to get things back
to looking normal on the screen.
During the reboot, the BIOS recognized the zip drive as usual.
Neither ZTW nor W98SE Explorer recognize the zip drive now!
When I insert a Zip disk, the activity light blinks exactly as always but
W98 displays the error message "E is not accessible / Retry? - Cancel?"
I also tried again with a blank Zip 100 disk, with the same result.
To me, it looks like the data disk MAY still be undamaged but the drive
hardware may be non-functional.
I have read, here, suggestions for inverting the drive or standing it on
edge, but have not tried that yet.
Questions: Is anyone still with me after all the long list of details?
Good. Thank you. :-)
What are the chances that trying the drive inversion or edge stand will do
(more?) damage to the data on the disk that I was trying to back up?
Would it be a better idea to try to rent or borrow an external EIDE ZIP
100 and use it to copy the data? Are the drives, at the age of most of
them these days, usually capable of reading disks from another drive?
I have no regrets on the thought of junking the drive but the data is
important to me - and some of the other disks were not backed up at all.
All constructive suggestions welcome.

The data still might be OK but storing on magnetic media
does not insure longevity.

IMO, the future of the ZIP drive is not too bright. Now
would be the opportunity to find a place that will transfer
the contents of ZIP disks to CD-R for better storage and
accessibility. (Two sets of CD-R backup for better security.)
If portability is important, 1 GB jump drives are available.
These USB devices, lacking moving parts, are also probably
more durable.

As for replacing the ZIP drive, the best replacement for an
original (E)IDE ZIP 100 would be the current ATAPI ZIP 100
model (versus the ZIP 250, for reasons of better compatibility).

[Mike Kingston]

Post by Ben Fullerton
I have been using a (factory hybrid??) EIDE Zip 100 (that requires some
SCSI drivers!??) without any *hardware problems since I bought it new over
ten years ago.
Today, I tried to copy some files from one of the disks using ZTree Win.
The directory listed properly, as usual, and I started the 'all tagged
file' copy ....... and watched while the ZTW activity indicator showed
that the program was active - for much too long a time, so I was forced to
do a W98SE reset to get out of ZTW and a reboot to get things back
to looking normal on the screen.
During the reboot, the BIOS recognized the zip drive as usual.
Neither ZTW nor W98SE Explorer recognize the zip drive now!
When I insert a Zip disk, the activity light blinks exactly as always but
W98 displays the error message "E is not accessible / Retry? - Cancel?"
I also tried again with a blank Zip 100 disk, with the same result.
To me, it looks like the data disk MAY still be undamaged but the drive
hardware may be non-functional.
I have read, here, suggestions for inverting the drive or standing it on
edge, but have not tried that yet.
Questions: Is anyone still with me after all the long list of details?
Good. Thank you. :-)
What are the chances that trying the drive inversion or edge stand will do
(more?) damage to the data on the disk that I was trying to back up?
Would it be a better idea to try to rent or borrow an external EIDE ZIP
100 and use it to copy the data? Are the drives, at the age of most of
them these days, usually capable of reading disks from another drive?
I have no regrets on the thought of junking the drive but the data is
important to me - and some of the other disks were not backed up at all.
All constructive suggestions welcome.
Ben Fullerton
benf () chebucto . ca

One possibility to consider is that some electrical contacts may have
become intermittent or failed. One of the cures for weird behaviour in a
PC is to re-seat as many electrical contacts as is practical, i.e.
unplug something and re-insert it into its socket. If you are not
familiar with the internals of your PC, ask for advice.

Another possibility is that your ZIP 100 drive has developed the "click
of death", which usually displays itself by continuous clicking - my
recollection of some years back is that the frequency was every one or
two seconds, but I could be wrong about the frequency. Solution to this
is to replace the ZIP drive and all ZIP disks that have been used in the
drive after the fault showed up - you may have inserted some to test the
drive, for example.

IOMEGA have, in the past, replaced ZIP 100 drives that develop "click of
death" - disks too. What their take is now on this problem, I don't
know.

Best of luck.

[s***@netpenny.net]

Ben,
That has every indication of the "click of death".
You said the drive is 10 years old? I'd say you got your mileage
out of it.
If you get another ZIP drive, you can probably access the date,
provided that you haven't tried to run the ZIP disk too many times in a
bad drive.